Back in the day kids went to summer camp for fun, life lessons and to give their parents a few weeks rest.  Activities included sailing, canoeing and marshmallow roasting around the the campfire.  But like many things, summer camp is a little different in this part of the world.

Training with live ammunition (Safa News Agency, Gaza)

On the Gaza strip nearly a 100,000 young kids went to ‘Hamas Summer Camp’ where activities included AK-47 handling,  paramilitary training, protest marching and Martyr education. A new report from the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center talked about the camps and their perennial existence on the impoverished land between Egypt and Israel.  Hearing about kids in paramilitary training is rather hard to picture…but when one sees the pictures of young boys carrying out assault drills its hard to be optimistic about the future of peace in the region.

Since Hamas took over the Gaza strip a few years ago they have continued to consolidate their power. This year militants burned down a number of UN sponsored summer camps that taught things slightly more age appropriate.

Hand to Hand Combat (Safa News Agency, Gaza)

Weapon Training (Safa News Agency, Gaza)

This comes as the divide between the West Bank and Gaza grows ever bigger.  The West Bank is controlled by Fatah which is currently negotiating with Israel for a Palestinian state that would include both the West Bank and Gaza.  Meanwhile, Hamas, has refused to even talk about a peace agreement and  points out that it is difficult for Fatah to negotiate about land that it doesn’t control.  The summer camps bring up an important point: if these are the ‘future leaders’ of Hamas and Gaza is there any hope for them to be willing to talk about a peace treaty?